Punto de quiebre y de partida: descubrirse autista

Abstract

Currently, the number of cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder identified in adults has increased substantially due to the recent understanding of the psychosocial difficulties of autism. This has broadened the diagnostic criteria and has allowed people with more subtle manifestations to also be considered on the autism spectrum. But this group of autistic people known as the lost generation often go unnoticed because of the compensation and camouflage strategies that they instinctively develop to adapt to the neurotypical world; not without this generating consequences for mental health. Due to the neurobiological characteristics, this sustained effort or the combination with a significant life change usually exceeds the individual's ability to manage socio-affective information and for this reason it is frequent that only under these circumstances is the discovery of the autistic condition. However, only a minority of autistic people who attend a mental health clinic will be properly diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.